FBI Releases 2012 Hate Crime Statistics

Washington, D.C.—According to statistics released today by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, 5,796 criminal incidents involving 6,718 offenses were reported in 2012 as being motivated by a bias toward a particular race, religion, sexual orientation, ethnicity/national origin, or physical or mental disability. The statistics, published by the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) Program in Hate Crime Statistics, 2012, provide data about the offenses, victims, offenders, and locations of the bias-motivated incidents reported by law enforcement agencies throughout the nation. Due to the unique nature of hate crime, however, the UCR Program does not estimate offenses for the jurisdictions of agencies that do not submit reports.

Hate Crime Statistics, 2012, includes the following information:

There were 5,790 single-bias incidents. Of these, 48.3 percent were motivated by racial bias, 19.6 percent were motivated by sexual-orientation bias, 19.0 percent were motivated by religious bias, and 11.5 percent were motivated by ethnicity/national origin bias. Bias against disabilities accounted for 1.6 percent of single-bias incidents. There were 6 multiple-bias hate crime incidents reported in 2012.

There were 2,547 hate crime offenses classified as crimes against property. The majority of these (74.8 percent) were acts of destruction/damage/vandalism. Robbery, burglary, larceny-theft, motor vehicle theft, arson, and other offenses accounted for the remaining 25.2 percent of crimes against property.

Of the 5,331 known offenders, 54.6 percent were white and 23.3 percent were black. The race was unknown for 11.5 percent, and other races accounted for the remaining known offenders.

Most hate crime incidents (32.6 percent) occurred in or near homes. Over 18 percent (18.3) occurred on highways, roads, alleys, or streets; 8.3 percent occurred at schools or colleges; 5.7 percent happened at parking or drop lots or garages; and 4.1 percent took place in churches, synagogues, temples or mosques. The location was considered other or unknown for 12.8 percent of hate crime incidents. The remainder of hate crime incidents took place at other specified or multiple locations.